Insurance scam?

Insurance scam?

Author
Discussion

Deanna

Original Poster:

4 posts

219 months

Wednesday 1st February 2006
quotequote all
Have I been scammed - your views please?

Last year I decided to sell my much loved '72 MBG "Jinx" (my daily car - not a pampered summer weekend runabout) & buy a Lotus Elise. Boo! I hear you all cry. Well ignoring the rights & wrongs of my decision, I decided that the easiest thing to do was to transfer my current policy over to the Lotus.

When I received my policy renewal in Dec 05 I was shocked to discover I had only accrued 2 years no claims although I had a policy through the same broker for over 4 years + 2 yrs no claims bonus from my first car.

Ignoring the 2 years through as that was not on a classic car (unless £500 Ford Escorts count as classic) the policies ran from Oct 2001 originally covering my '71 MG Midget "Midge" so I thought I should have 4 years no claims. Now it seems that as when I bought the B (Dec 02) I renewed the policy via the internet. This was a) convenient & b) advertised as being cheaper due to not incurring admin costs.
It seems that by doing this I had without realising taken out a "collectors" insurance policy and that no claims bonus is NOT accrued as a benefit of these types of policy. Not something I am disputing.

Now while I appreciate as a policy holder I have a responsibility to be aware of the T & C's of my policy, I would never have taken out a collectors policy had
a)I known that I was doing so or...b)known what a collectors policy was or...& this is the Biggie...c) that was NOT accruing No Claims Bonus.

I'm sure most MG owners insure with this company & they have agreed to meet me half-way & confirm I have 3 years no claims as a good will gesture (although I suspect this has more to do with the fact that someone accidentally confirmed on voice recorder that I had 3 yrs accrued than out of any benevolence). Do you agree that insurance companies have a duty to inform the more naive of us of the main features of our policies?

We all know we would rather be out driving than sat in darkened rooms reading the small-print and whether or not a policy is accruing No Claims is a pretty fundamental detail - should this not be made clearer in big letters?

It concerns me that many fellow car owners, including MG owners could be falling foul of this lack of clarity & making costly errors based on a lack of information.

Samcat

471 posts

224 months

Thursday 2nd February 2006
quotequote all

It was always my understanding that 'Classic' policies do not gain 'no-claims' bonuses